City 13 is located in the suburbs of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The location was easy to find and had plenty of parking available for guests. The building that City 13 is in is beautiful, and we could tell right away this wouldn’t have the “office building” feel that many escape rooms have. A spacious lobby, and extremely pleasant employees, greeted us as we entered. There were several couches, a pool table, several tables with chairs, a popcorn machine (free!), coffee maker (free!), and drinks for purchase. Additionally, they had merchandise for purchase. We were already impressed! The owner(s) explained to us that when they picked this location, they did so with the forethought of not wanting an office building feel but wanted to create an alternate reality where the entire time you are in City 13, it is an authentic experience. We were walked into our entry point to the city, briefed on our mission (in the absolute coolest briefing we’ve seen so far), and then walked through the streets of the city to the City Reserve.

Upon entering the City Reserve, we immediately split up into different parts of the room. One thing we agreed upon was that the quality was still high, but not quite as authentic as the Armory room. We loved the interactivity of this room; however, we were hoping for a little more in terms of props or décor to make the room really fit the theme. We also noticed some “elementary” type puzzles or props that were used, which is okay because we do understand that new players tend to really love these and feel a “wow factor” from them. We did feel immersed in the story for most of the room, except when we got stuck on a puzzle and we were briefly pulled from that immersion.

In terms of puzzles, this room was a lower tech room than the other two rooms at City 13. There were still a great variety of puzzles that played on each of our strengths, puzzles that required teamwork (we love this), and a clear objective throughout the room. Additionally, in terms of puzzle design, we did enjoy the in-theme way to get a clue or hint.

So, was it fun? Yes! City 13 had yet another fun room with a story, puzzles and props to match, and great heart. While we did feel like the set could have had a little more in terms of on-theme props and décor, we did love the use of the props that were in there. We would recommend this room to groups who are newer players looking for a fun, but not overwhelming, experience.